Jack stands are commonly used by mechanics in connection with maintenance work on vehicles, and a substantial market for jack stands is to vehicle owners who do their own maintenance work. Jack stands for sale to vehicle owners are commercially practical only if the jack stands can be manufactured at very low cost. While the manufacturer must produce a product at a very competitive price due to the large number of manufacturers in the industry, these manufacturers must also produce a high strength product fully capable of supporting the weight of a vehicle.
In one common prior art method for manufacturing jack stands, the jack stands include a base portion comprised of a cylindrical portion supported by three legs integrally joined to the cylindrical portion. A tubular member is housed in the cylindrical portion in a telescoping manner and includes an upper end adapted to support the axle or some other portion of the vehicle. The legs of the base portion diverge downwardly and outwardly from the cylindrical portion so as to define a generally tetrahedral shape. Brace members are welded to the lower ends of the legs to rigidly join the legs.
In a common form of the prior art, the base portion of the jack stand is manufactured from steel tubing having a diameter substantially the same as that of the cylindrical portion to be formed. The tubing is cut in lengths approximately equal to the vertical height of the jack stand base portion. Elongated longitudinally extending slits are formed in one end of the steel tubing. These slits have a length of approximately one-half to three-fourths of the length of the tubing and function to form three legs integrally joined to a cylindrical collar portion. The ends of the legs are then pulled outwardly so as to form the outwardly diverging legs of the jack stand. Braces are then welded to the lower ends of these outwardly diverging legs. The legs formed in this manner have a curved configuration when viewed in a horizontal cross-section and the legs will each define an arc of about 120.degree.. This curved configuration of the legs provides legs which have substantial strength yet having a simple or simplified construction.
One of the drawbacks of this prior art construction is, however, that the elongated steel tubing used as the raw material in making the base portion of the jack is relatively expensive, particularly in view of the competitive nature of the product.